KENTUCKY Abducted newborn found 150 miles away



A nurses aide was charged in the kidnapping of the baby, who needs oxygen.
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) -- A day-old baby girl with respiratory problems who was taken from her mother's hospital room Friday was found unharmed hours later in an alley 150 miles away. A hospital nurses aide was charged with kidnapping her.
Police used footprints to identify a baby found in Bowling Green as Grayci Jean Barrows, reported abducted from a hospital in Stanford about 4 a.m., said State Police Trooper Nick Stephens.
"It's been 100 percent confirmed," Stephens said. "It's got a happy ending."
The baby, umbilical cord still attached, was brought to a local hospital after a passer-by found her in an alley behind a consignment shop. Lequetta Dolbeare, an employee of the shop, called Grandma's Attic, said a woman walking her dog found the baby.
"She had a baby blanket wrapped around her head real tight and her legs were sticking out," Lois Long told the Daily News of Bowling Green. "I thought she was a baby doll, so I reached down to touch her leg, and her foot moved and I started freaking out."
Suspect arrested
At about the time the baby was found, Tonya Dionne Shelton Sholtz was apprehended about 20 miles away, at a truck stop near the Tennessee line. Police said they were tipped by someone who overheard her complaining about being named in an Amber Alert issued for Grayci.
Sholtz, 24, of Lexington, who worked part-time at Fort Logan Hospital in Stanford, was charged with kidnapping, said Stanford Police Chief Keith Middleton. He said Sholtz was questioned for much of Friday but was not cooperative.
Stephens said no one is sure how long Grayci was left outside before she was found.
Grayci was in "fairly good" condition, especially for a newborn left exposed to the weather, Kentucky State Police Sgt. Phil Crumpton said. The temperature in Bowling Green about the time Grayci was found was in the mid-40s.
Grayci was admitted Friday afternoon to Kosair Children's Hospital in Louisville, 110 miles north of Bowling Green. Her parents, Samantha and Cory Barrows, seniors at Casey County High School, could not be reached to comment Friday afternoon.